Press Conference

Work in two groups: representatives of the De Beers company and members of the Press. Prepare to hold a 20-minute press conference at which De Beers will answer questions on its business practices and company policy.

Representatives of De Beers— turn to the next page.

Representatives of the Press— read the information on this page.

Asking tough questions

Isn’t it true that…

How can you justify...?

Do you deny...?

Do you or do you not…

Please just answer the question.

Do you expect us to believe that?

The press - Information

Re-read the article, Diamonds Are Forever. As a group prepare to question the representatives of De Beers about their business activities. You might mention the following:

• • Isn’t the high price of diamonds simply a result of De Beers’ manipulation of the world market?

• • If the cutting of diamonds is such a skilled and expensive business, how come 75% of the world’s diamonds are cut by workers in India who are so badly paid?

• • How can De Beers justify its monopolistic control of the world diamond market when diamonds are produced in so many different parts of the world?

• • Aren’t the advertisements De Beers runs misleading to say the least? And isn’t it about time they admitted how common diamonds actually are?

• • How does De Beers plan to contain the recent flood of Russian diamonds onto the market?

• • Is there any truth in the rumour that De Beers has in the past dumped surplus stocks of diamonds in the sea to keep prices up?

De beers - Information

Re-read the article, Diamonds Are Forever. As a group prepare to answer any questions the Press

might ask. The following might be useful:

• The fact that there are many diamond deposits in the world does not mean that the beautifully cut and polished gems people buy are not rare. It’s the processing of the diamonds that raises their value and price.

• In a free market economy you don’t see anything wrong in running a highly successful advertising campaign to promote the status- symbol image of diamonds. Surely no one can be in any doubt that they are beautiful and desirable gems. If the advertisements were at all dishonest, the Advertising Standards Authority would have insisted they were withdrawn.

• As a matter of fact, the retail market for diamonds is looking buoyant at the moment and demand shows no sign of falling off. But reports that Russia may flood the market are alarming.

• As the demand for industrial diamonds continues to decline, it may be necessary to scale down production until stocks are sufficiently reduced. But this is just good business.

• Remember that many Third World countries depend on De Beers’ expertise in the diamond industry to provide them with suitable outlets for their gems. They wouldn’t come to De Beers if De Beers didn’t offer them the best deal.

Defending your position

I’m afraid, it’s not as simple as that.

With respect, you don’t seem to understand

If I could just finish what I was saying.

We utterly deny that…

I can only repeat what I’ve already said, namely that…